World Battlefronts: BATTLE OF GERMANY (West): Models for Destruction

Aachen was doomed, but the destruction of Charlemagne's historic residence was now no more than an episode in the tense tactical drama on the western front. The battle that raged in mounting fury northeast of the German border city was far more significant. This week there were ample signs that here the Allies hoped they might achieve their breakthrough to the Rhine.

The two arms which Lieut. General Courtney Hicks Hodges' First U.S. Army had thrown around Aachen in a classic bear hug had posed two deadly questions to the Germans : 1...